“Jess, I want you to drive. I’ll give you directions. And, I’m going to trust you with a big secret. Please don’t let me down and blab this to everyone you meet.”
“Ah, okay?”
They swapped seats, and Jessalyn stared at Manu, wondering at the obvious battle taking place within him. A frown furrowed his brow, and his eyes glittered. Now that she’d learned more about taniwha, she understood this was a glimpse of his dragon.
When he remained silent, still struggling with whatever he wanted to tell her, she said, “You and your friends are helping me. I’m loyal to my friends.”
“Except if they behave strangely and offer sloppy kisses.”
“Your kisses are a one hundred percent improvement.” On replaying her words through her mind, she blushed. Maybe she should keep a closer watch on what she admitted instead of blurting out stuff.
“I haven’t had complaints.”
“Bighead,” she said and tried hard not to crack a smile. The man didn’t need encouragement.
“Mine. Mine!”
“Oh, good gravy,” Jessalyn muttered. “Stop already.”
“Are you talking to your taniwha?”
“Excellent. He didn’t hear,” Jessalyn said with a quick glance at Manu. Her mouth widened on seeing the quiver of his lips, and she groaned. “You did hear. How do I stop her enthusiasm? She’s not making any sense. I have no idea what she’s blathering about. You were going to give me directions?”
Manu touched a button on the watch on his wrist. The next instant he was gone. Jessalyn blinked once. Twice. Then, she flung out her arm.
“Hey, woman. Watch where you’re putting that fist.”
Jessalyn gasped. “You’re still there. How did you do that?”
“When I’m not dealing with tribe business, my passion is inventing things. I’ve designed a stealth gadget to make me invisible when I’m in my human or dragon forms. We’re heading to Red Hill. Stay on this road until you get to the next set of traffic lights.”
Jessalyn pulled onto the road and followed Manu’s instructions. “I can’t believe you’re there. If you weren’t speaking I’d assume the passenger seat was empty.”
“Other taniwha sense my presence. I’m working on that angle and haven’t quite got it right.”
“So if a taniwha wears your watch thingie, they can fly around Auckland and no one notices them?” Jessalyn asked as Manu directed her to pull into a driveway.
“That’s right. Good. My father and his friends have gone home to their beds. We should have a peaceful night.”
“Why is your father staking out your house?”
Manu sighed. “Long story. Basically, after my mother died, the leadership of the tribe passed to me. My dad doesn’t approve. Some of my tribe agree with him.”
Jessalyn studied him and instinct told her there was more to the story. But she didn’t push. It was none of her business. “This is a nice place.”
“It belongs to Hone, and he’s letting me rent it from him.”
“But you spend most of your time at the warehouse. Is that where you do your work?”
“It is.”
“You work alone.”
“If I need help with anything my two middle brothers step up or I can ask Hone and Jack. Hone’s father is always around too. You’ll like Uncle George. He’s my father’s brother. Do you fancy lasagna for dinner? There is one in the freezer.”
“Sounds good.” Jessalyn climbed out of the truck. “I can’t believe I grew up among taniwha and never noticed a thing. There is so much to learn.” She croaked and slapped a hand over her stomach. “I’m going to breathe fire.”
“Quick.” An invisible hand grasped hers and tugged her around the house. “Hone has a fire pit near the deck.”
Jessalyn hiccupped and a spark shot out. She lifted her free hand to her mouth and her second hiccup-induced spark burned her palm. It hurt but far better that than setting the house on fire.
“Here,” Manu said.
But she’d already spied the pit, and she bent over, her shoulders racking with the force of her hiccups.
“Try this,” Manu said, off to her right. “Instead of fighting the urge, embrace it. It’s safe here. See how big a flare you can breathe out. A dragon can spout fire for several hours if they need to, but they pace themselves.”
“It’s strange speaking to you while you’re invisible. You—” She broke off, heat swirling in her stomach, growing bigger and hotter. This time, instead of panicking, she inhaled and the faint sense of nausea she always experienced retreated. Encouraged, she repeated her breath until she could bear the heat no longer. She inhaled—a deep, long breath—and expelled it while aiming her face toward the fire pit.
A fiery spurt of flame shot from her mouth, so big it startled her. With no fuel to grow, the fire flared and died to a flicker before vanishing.
“You did it.” Manu sounded thrilled with her accomplishment. “Do you need a repeat, or is your stomach settled now?”
“I’m good. I think.”
“Come inside, so I can become visible again,” he murmured. “I’ll open the garage and get you to park my truck inside.”
As Jessalyn followed him, the moon caught her attention. A half-moon, it sat low in the sky.
“Pretty,” her taniwha crooned. “I like it.”
Jessalyn took a final glance before returning to the truck. She hadn’t liked the way her taniwha had almost purred at the moon, especially since the copious amounts of sex discussion.
“Something wrong?” Manu’s voice came from the garage.
She jumped. “My taniwha was staring at the moon and praising it. It made me remember what you said this morning.”
“Don’t worry too much. You’re not alone, and we’ll help you. You have nothing to fear.”
Jessalyn climbed into the truck, and once Manu opened the garage door for her, she parked the vehicle. The door came down behind them and a light flicked on, telling her she hadn’t run Manu over during the maneuver.
It was all right for him to tell her not to worry, but this was all new for her. How could she not worry?
Manu materialized. “I’ll put the lasagna in the oven. Come on inside. Do you want a beer?”
“A cold drink sounds perfect. My throat is tender. Does fire-blowing make your throat sore?”
“No, I think because I’ve used my fire since I was young. I don’t do it in human form like you either.”
Jessalyn accepted the bottle of beer Manu handed her. “If you blew fire from a young age, how come you didn’t get in trouble or draw attention at school?”
“I did get in trouble, and our teachers were very strict in what we could and couldn’t do. We have our own school, and the teachers would threaten to send us to June for punishment. My mother,” he added. “Believe me, I and my brothers soon learned our punishments were always worse than the other boys and girls who misbehaved. All of my brothers were bright enough to realize misbehavior had to occur when no one in authority might witness our transgressions.”
“Isn’t the moon pretty? I’m all tingly inside.”
Jessalyn spluttered out a mouthful of beer. “That wasn’t me!”
“Behave,” Manu said in a deeper than normal voice.
“But I didn’t say—” Jessalyn broke off when Manu placed a finger against his lips in a sign for silence.
“Are you listening?”
“Yes, sexy.”
Manu rolled his eyes. “Behave.” He spoke sternly.
Thankfully, the loud voice in her head—the one that shouted for Manu’s entertainment—fell silent.
“We’re not sure what the burglar wanted. There was no damage. They’d dumped things on the floor as if they were looking for something. It wouldn’t surprise me if they break into your shed next.”
Had they wanted the pendant? “Do you think—?”
“No,” her taniwha said, her tone sharp and bossy. “Wait. Don’t tell him yet.” She spok
e in an inside voice—the way to explain Manu’s lack of reaction. Her taniwha had spoken only to her, which meant…
“Do I think what?” Manu asked.
“Perhaps they found what they wanted.”
Manu shrugged. “Who knows? I’ll give you a quick tour. Kitchen. The pantry, in case you get hungry. You’ll find biscuits and chocolate bars. You’ve seen the lounge and the deck already. The fire pit is ready if you need it. The garden is private so no worries with spying neighbors.”
He led the way along a royal-blue runner. The natural wood flooring showed on each side of the carpet. Two bedrooms. “I use one as a home gym. And this is my bedroom. This room has an en suite, and there is another bathroom through that door.”
“Where will I sleep?”
“You can take my bed,” Manu said.
“Where will you sleep?”
“The couch is comfortable. I’ve gone to sleep there while watching the telly.”
“We could share his bed,” her inner voice said helpfully.
“No!”
Manu’s brows rose, his lips curling into a quizzical smile. “No, what?”
“Uh, nothing. Can you hear my taniwha now?”
“Not everything.”
Jessalyn speared him with a skeptical gaze. “Are you sure you’re telling me the truth?”
Manu’s quick grin sent her pulse racing. “I am.”
The oven buzzer interrupted their conversation, and Jessalyn followed Manu to the kitchen. A tantalizing spicy tomato, cheese, and meat fragrance drifted on the air, and her stomach gave a loud rumble.
She held her belly, heat rising in her cheeks. “I can’t believe I’m eating so much food.”
“Don’t worry.” Manu set the lasagna on a trivet he’d placed on the table earlier. “Sit. Sit.”
Jessalyn hoovered up the lasagna. It was mouthwateringly delicious, and she savored every morsel.
It was kind of nice, sitting in a home and eating dinner with someone who wasn’t her father. This was different from eating a meal in the warehouse.
“What did you used to do during the evening when you lived at home in Piha?” Manu asked.
“Often, I’d help my father with his bespoke furniture pieces. It’s part of why I wanted to keep Dad’s tools and equipment. I enjoy working with wood and thought I might continue making the carved boxes Dad used to sell at the Auckland markets. They’re smaller pieces and take less time to make.”
“How often did your father make the trip to the markets in Auckland?”
“Once a month.”
“Did you ever go with him?”
“When I was young, Dad left me with a babysitter. I offered to go with him once I was older, but Dad told me he enjoyed selling on his own. Our discussion was kind of uncomfortable, actually. I got the impression he used that time alone to entertain a lady. After that, I never asked again. I started working at the fish shop on Friday nights and the weekends.”
Manu nodded. “Do you know which markets your father used to sell at?”
“All different ones. There is a heap of markets in Auckland. When Dad got enough stock, he’d look at what was on and book a stall at whichever one he thought would work best.”
“Do you want to watch another movie?”
“Sure.”
“An action movie?”
“Perfect.” Relaxing in this way, without having fire-related stress—well, it seemed as if she hadn’t slowed down since her father’s death. Thanks to Manu, she had a plan of sorts. It made all the difference.
The action movie entertained and enthralled her until it came to the steamy love scenes. She blinked at the sudden expanse of flesh, her mind steering down the same driveway. Once the thought entered her head, it refused to leave. That tiny, annoying voice spoke up with an opinion. Of course, she had one.
“We should practice this stuff with Manu. I’d enjoy that.”
No. Jessalyn sent the thought back in the firm and decisive manner her father had used on her when she was trying to wheedle permission.
Somewhere, in the depths of her brain, her fledgling taniwha must’ve ferreted out her past process and utilized her experience.
“Please. Please. Please!”
Stop shouting.
“Pleeeease!”
“Something wrong?” Manu asked.
“No! Nothing.” Now that her dragon had started this kerfuffle, Jessalyn couldn’t focus on the action on the screen. She squirmed on the couch, her limbs twitchy. Squeezing her knees together heightened her arousal. Heat crawled across her skin. She shifted positions. Nothing helped to ease her growing arousal.
Jessalyn glanced out the terrace windows, her gaze alighting on the half-moon. Mesmerized, she gawked at the pale celestial body. For some reason that made everything worse. Manu’s presence beside her plus the movie and the moon in her direct vision combined to set her on edge.
“Touch Manu. Pleeease!”
Jessalyn leaped to her feet. “I…ah…I think I’ll go to bed now.”
Manu paused the movie and stood. “The sheets are clean. Do you have everything you need?”
A splutter escaped Jessalyn before she could control the blast of black humor. “Yes. Yes! I’ll be fine. Good night.”
“Jess! What time are you starting work tomorrow?”
“Ten.”
“All right. See you in the morning.”
Jessalyn practically ran to the master bedroom. She shut the door behind her. It slammed, and she winced.
“Get a grip, Jessalyn,” she muttered.
A quick shower later, her body still twitched and toweling dry increased the sensitivity of her breasts, her skin. Everything.
Jessalyn hung up the damp towel and padded from the en suite to the bedroom naked. She flopped onto the bed and closed her eyes. Even breaths. Even breaths.
“I want sex,” her voice whispered. Her taniwha sounded a little desperate, and Jessalyn got it. She also no longer sounded childlike, but more like a female with goals.
Every inch of her skin tingled while her pussy pulsed with urgency.
Jessalyn muttered a soft curse and parted her legs. The cooler air hitting her folds forced a groan of pleasure from her. She stroked herself. The return journey of her finger had her moaning.
Then, a knock sounded on her door.
“Jess, is everything all right?”
9 – The Power Of The Moon
Manu tapped again as his dragon growled. Worried when Jess didn’t answer, he stepped over the threshold.
Jess was stretched out on his bed, naked, her hand buried between her legs. Manu understood even before her first shriek.
“Get out!”
Her cheeks were red and her eyes glittered. Was that her taniwha he’d glimpsed? Manu took another step closer, mesmerized by the way her irises flashed golden.
“Manu, what are you doing?”
He sat on the corner of the bed but kept his hands clenched in his lap. “Is it your taniwha?”
Jess made a choked sound and tried to scramble under the covers. “Ever since we discussed what happens to dragons during the full moon, the voice in my head has droned on and on about how pretty the moon is. Then the movie. Those love scenes. And you—your scent.”
A sob of despair emerged from her and it twisted his gut. He’d known his taniwha since his childhood and he and his beast mostly worked together. This was new for Jess, and her frustration was obvious.
Manu swallowed, her decadent scent and distress tugging at his control. This was his mate. Every part of him wanted to declare it to the world, but Jess had enough to deal with now. She didn’t need him adding to her burdens.
“Would you let me touch you?” The words burst from him, and he would’ve recalled them, except the flare of her eyes and her throaty groan hinted she might welcome his touch. She’d hadn’t ordered him to leave for the last two minutes. “I’ll keep my clothes on and use my fingers and mouth.”
His dick twitche
d as if to refute his promise. Manu dug his fingers into the duvet cover and waited.
When she merely stared at him, his shoulders slumped. “I’ll go.” He stood and was halfway to the door when she spoke.
“No, don’t leave. I—you—please touch me. I ache so bad.”
Manu exhaled his relief before turning back to her with hopefully a pleasant but impassive expression. “You’re certain?”
“Yes.” She beckoned him closer.
Manu cautiously sat on the bed again, this time nearer to her.
“Come closer.” Her voice was strained.
“Yes?”
Jess struck, grabbed his head—no, his ears—and gripped hard enough to force their faces together.
“You will touch me, but so help me, if you tell anyone I will cut off your balls, crush them, and use them as fertilizer on the first public garden I find. Do you understand?”
Manu struggled to keep up. “I never gossip.”
The truth. She didn’t understand. Not yet. Learning these different facets of her personality, her strength and her tomboy ways fascinated him. He’d never taken the time to get to know a woman this way. Mostly, he charmed them out of their panties, bedded them, and left. Everything with Jess was different.
Her grip on his ears remained firm. “That’s what the captain of the first fifteen told me when I gave him my virginity, then he boasted to his rugby mates, and they told their girlfriends. Pretty soon everyone in Piha knew I was a rotten lay.”
“The bastard!” Manu wanted to hunt down the moron and flatten him. “I am not him.”
“No, but I’m making sure you don’t tell your cousin or friends.”
They’d already know where his mind was headed since he hadn’t shown this attention to any other woman.
“I will not discuss anything that happens in this bedroom with anyone but you,” he promised, holding her gaze for the entire time.
“All right.” She shuddered and released him. Her right hand smoothed down his cheek, the stroke tender and no longer aggressive.
It was a surrender, and Manu wanted to howl at the moon like a dumb wolf.
Now she’d given him permission, he allowed himself to study her body. Her clothes—looser than necessary—screened the beauty of her sleek muscles. Her breasts were large, her nipples a deep rose rather than the brownish color more common to those with Maori blood. He brushed one taut nub, and a noticeable shudder worked down her torso.
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